


I'll Be Your River

by Writingwife83



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-12 05:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3345113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writingwife83/pseuds/Writingwife83
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One shot set during HLV. Molly finds Sherlock and Wiggins working in the lab and it prompts her to ask why he hasn't been coming to her for help as often anymore. Based off the theme of the song River by Emeli Sande.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Be Your River

**Author's Note:**

> Filling a prompt for Tumblr name broadwaylover17. She had requested a one shot for Sherlolly based on this beautiful song River. I enjoyed writing this and tying it into an episode that I wish had more Molly. ;)

_If you're too big to follow rivers,_

_How you ever gonna find the sea?_

_Follow me_

_I'll be your river, river..._

"Sherlock, what's going on here?" Molly demanded as she stepped into the lab.

There stood Sherlock and Bill Wiggins, working away on something or other. Neither of them even fully looked up at her when she'd walked in and spoken to them.

"Afternoon, Molly," Sherlock answered as he made a note.

"Sherlock, 'afternoon, Molly' is not an explanation of what you're doing here." She walked over closer and crossed her arms, waiting for him to elaborate.

Sherlock looked up at her briefly and frowned. "Have you never seen me come into Bart's lab and begin working on something?"

"Obviously I've seen that before. That isn't what I meant. You didn't even ask me. Well, you never really _ask,_ but you usually tell me what you're doing. And besides, I make enough allowances for you, but now there's..." Molly gestured to Wiggins with her eyes.

"I'm 'is protégé." Wiggins volunteered.

Molly sighed. "That's...nice, I suppose. Look, Sherlock, could we just have a word?"

The detective pulled his safety glasses off with a huff. "Time is of the essence Molly. I can't be wasting it."

"Well then I'm sure you would consider it a colossal waste of time if you were to, say, get kicked out of the lab." Molly raised a threatening eyebrow.

Sherlock studied her for a second, ascertained that she was being very serious, and then sighed as he turned to address Wiggins.

"Wiggins, would you go take a short break? I'll text you when it's safe to return."

Wiggins put down the test tube he was holding, removed his gloves, and went to exit the room. As he passed Molly, he added, "You gonna slap him again?"

"Thank you, Wiggins!" Sherlock hurried to cut in, signaling the man to finish taking his leave.

After he was gone, Molly came over closer to Sherlock and leaned against the lab table. He gave her a tight smile.

"What exactly do you want to know? I'll tell you whatever you want, as long as you'll let me finish this."

Molly shook her head a little as she took in his body language. "Something isn't right. I don't know exactly what you're doing, and I'm not even sure that it matters. What matters to me right now is that you haven't come to me...about anything."

He looked a little uncomfortable, and avoided eye contact. "You should be thanking me, Molly. What is coming, what I am about to do...it doesn't concern you."

"Excuse me?" Molly questioned, making a face. "Doesn't concern me? I'm your friend. Or have you forgotten that? I get the impression that you have. You barely talk to me at all lately. You come and go from Bart's, but you almost never tell me anything about what you're doing. And now you're bringing in your own help! Don't you trust me anymore?"

"Trust _you_?" He suddenly raised his voice a bit as he looked at her. "I hardly think that is the issue anymore." He looked away, pressing his lips tightly together, before releasing them again.

Molly stared at him wide eyed and proceeded to do what she was best at when it came to Sherlock Holmes. She read between the lines. If he still trusted her, then the problem must be...

"You don't think _I trust you_ anymore, do you?" she said softly, which made his eyes snap to her again.

He hesitated for a moment. "I feel sure that a number of my friends and family have far less faith in my decision making skills lately. I fail to see why you should be any different." His tone was a little defensive and superior, but Molly knew better. That was his shield, his protection. And she wouldn't buy into it.

"Sherlock," she began slowly, taking a step closer to him. "Being disappointed in someone's choices doesn't mean that you feel any differently about them. And it doesn't make a true friend want to run away. It makes them want to be there. Your friends would move mountains for you, Sherlock, and I am no exception. In fact, I _have_ moved mountains for you. Don't doubt for one second that I would do something like that all over again if you needed it."

"Molly, this is something...I should do on my own. You don't want to be involved, trust me."

"Wrong again," she snapped back with zero hesitation. "Even if I can't help like last time, I want to know. I don't care if it's good or bad. I want to make the load lighter in any way I can, even if it's just...being there for you."

"Don't you see, Molly?" he said, with a badly concealed expression of sadness. "Those times I disappointed everyone won't be the last time. I feel very sure that I will continue to disappoint you again and again. That is who I am. I hurt people terribly easily. I barely understood why you were so willing to put yourself at risk for me all those years ago, and there's even less reason for you to do that now."

Molly knew what was happening. He was trying to push her away. The preemptive strike, before the day came when she would reject him. She knew him by now, and at this point, she was able to make a stand. She wasn't backing down.

She walked straight forward till she was directly beside him, and she shoved her hand into his, lacing their fingers together and squeezing. She stared up at him unapologetically as he looked down at her in shock and confusion.

"Don't ever _ever_ question why I want to be there for you. Please. At least do me that curtesy. At least respect the fact that I care more about your safety than my own. Do not throw it back in my face and act as if you can decide when I do and don't want to support you. You do not get to decide whether I still love you." She had no qualms about throwing around the "L" word now. She was past caring about the repercussions. And besides, he was welcome to interpret her love in any way he'd like.

There was fire in her words and in her eyes, and all Sherlock could do was watch her in silence. Her conviction, strength, and loyalty had once again left him in in shock and awe.

Molly lifted up their tightly joined hands and spoke firmly again. "Do you see this? Can you feel it? If this ever goes away, I swear to you that I will be very clear about that. But unless that happens, don't you dare tell me that I 'don't want to be involved.' Do you understand?"

He was at a bit of a loss as to how he should respond. How could he even begin to express just how much her words had meant to him? The truth was that he couldn't bring himself to say exactly how much.

"Clearly understood," he chose to say softly. "Thank you."

Molly nodded, pleased with having made her point. She finally released her hand, and didn't notice how Sherlock squeezed his fingers in a fist for a moment, feeling like his palm was painfully empty.

"So, now that we've had that talk...what are we up to today?" Molly asked with a more relaxed smile.

Sherlock smirked. He couldn't help but enjoy filling her in, now that she'd made such a serious speech about wanting to be "involved."

"Well, Molly, it just so happens that we are currently working out the exact dosage in order to drug my parents, my brother, and Mary Watson. Glad to have you on board." He grinned.

Molly's mouth hung open and she stared at him in thinly veiled horror. "Oh, um, really? Hmm, that's...interesting."

"Oh relax, we're almost done anyway." He waved a hand as he took out his mobile and began texting Wiggins to head back to the lab. "No obligation to help drug a pregnant woman and an elderly couple if you'd rather not."

"Well, since you're almost done. I suppose I could bow out of that particular crime in this instance," she said with a laugh. "I can't help but wonder though...why exactly are you drugging your family and Mary?"

"Ultimately it is for their safety," he said, over simplifying the situation on purpose, and looking away to examine Mary's latest OB report to double check the weight.

Molly was a little let down by his answer. Had he really heard everything she'd just said? She had hoped that he would be willing to let her in, but it seemed that he was instantly retreating back behind his walls, sharing only as much as he had to. He wasn't really unloading the worries of his heart, and that was what she really wanted to help with.

She started to turn away as Wiggins came back in the room and got to work again. She figured she had made herself clear, but could only hope that Sherlock would take her up on her offer of support...someday.

Before she reached the door, she was surprised to hear Sherlock call to her again.

"Molly?"

"Yes?"

He seemed to hesitate, but finally said, "Would you, er...like to know exactly what I am planning to do?"

The corner of Molly's lips twitched upward. "Do you want to tell me?"

She saw him swallow as he looked away, then he looked back at her. "Yes," he said in a soft deep voice. "I want you to know...everything."

"I'm off at six," Molly said, deciding to leave the rest to him.

He gave her a brief smile. "I'll come and find you."

"Good." She smiled back. "I'm never hard to find."

_Wherever you're standing, I will be by your side_

_Through the good, through the bad_

_I'll never be hard to find._


End file.
